Ray Bradbury originally published Fahrenheit 451 in October of 1953. At this time in history, the book was calling out the ideas of censorship and government overreach during the “Red Scare”. His book was meant to be a warning to the world about what might come with technological advancements, excessive government power, and the consumerism of society. Fahrenheit 451 clearly shows a society parallel to that of ours; pleasure, consumerism, and stubborn stupidity.
In Guy Montag’s culture, pleasure comes before all else. On the first page of the novel, Montag talks of why he burns,without comprehending the deeper meaning and metaphor behind it. As one peers at the first sentence, it reads, "It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed" (Bradbury 3). Montag continues to enjoy the burning because he is blinded
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His society goes on and is happy with doing, buying, and accumulating without stopping to questioning the reason why these things bring happiness or why they are needed. Until Montag’s neighbor, Clarisse, asks him if he is happy he is stuck in society’s mindset. After his interaction with her, his mind is opened and Bradbury displays Montags thoughts, "He was not happy. He was not happy. He said the words to himself. He recognized this as the true state of affairs. He wore his happiness like a mask and the girl had run off across the lawn with the mask and there was no way of going to knock on her door and ask for it back" (Bradbury 12). Clarisse “takes his mask off” by asking a simple question that not even Montag’s own wife had the time or cared enough to ask, “Are you happy?” (Bradbury 10). Bradbury perceived the real world as one that would eventually only have enough time to care about oneself and what would bring instant satisfaction. In other words, a selfish, fast-paced, consumer